


4. Human Shield

by orphan_account



Series: Whumptober 2019 [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Bullying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Whumptober 2019, loose interpretation of the prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 10:03:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20905847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tony notices Peter has acting weird lately. He stays silent about it until the kid comes into the lab with his head down and a bruise on his face.





	4. Human Shield

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this is a day late. I got busy yesterday with work and school. I'll post part 5 later today.

For someone with a secret identity, Peter was always very easy to read. At least, Tony thought so. It was refreshing, in a weird way. He could always rely on Peter for simplicity and normalcy. Well, the kid was more normal than most things in his life. It was… nice.

Unfortunately, Tony was rapidly losing that normalcy. For the past month, Peter had been acting off and Tony couldn’t figure out why. He put way more effort into making sure he was out of Tony’s way than normal. He started cutting off his usual enthusiastic ramblings with a shy apology and following them wouldn’t talk at all until it was time to leave. Eventually, he stopped talking at all unless he absolutely had to.

One day, Peter walked into the lab with his head down and arms crossed (clear sign he was hiding something). “Hey, Pete. Something got you down?” Any other time, that would’ve been enough to get him to go off about this history test he’s stressed about or whatever excuse he had prepared for that day..

And yet, Peter just continued to the other side of the lab, not even bothering to look up. “Nah, I’m good,” he mumbled. 

Tony wasn’t about to stand for that. He walked over to where Peter was and leaned against the table. “Nope. None of this. Tell me what’s up.” No response. “Is it Ned?”

“No.”

“May?”

“No.”

“Girlfriend.”

“Stop it.”

“...Boyfriend?”

“Please.”

“Cause it’s fine if it is your secret boyfriend.”

“It’s not.”

“Okay, how about-”

“Mr. Stark, please just let it go.” Peter finally looked up. A nasty bruise was covering the left side of his face.

“Woah. What happened there?” Tony gently tilted Peter’s head to get a better look. “This hurt?”

“No.” The man gave him a skeptical look. “Fine, a little, but it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“You walked into my lab like that and you expect me not to worry about it? Not happening. Full story, now.”

Peter looked angry. Or, at least as angry as the human embodiment of a puppy could get. “I don’t need to tell you everything that happens with me! And… how do you know I didn’t get it on patrol?”

“Well, for starters, you would’ve just told me instead of getting defensive..” Peter looked down, refusing to meet the man’s eyes. “Second, you heal way too fast. This was today. This morning, at the earliest, and that’s assuming they were a wrestler or something.”

Peter flinched a little. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get angry like that. I… What do you mean ‘they’?”

“Pete, this kinda bruise doesn’t come from running into a door or something. Someone did this.” He put his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Now, tell me who so I can have Friday work on getting their addresses while I get my suit.”

“Mr-!”

“I’m kidding.” He laughed. “Fine. I’ll compromise. You can keep your secret, but if this happens again, I’m locking you in here until I have names.”  
Peter smiled. “What if I don’t have names?”

“Very detailed descriptions.” Tony patted him on the back before going back to what he was working on.

* * *

Next lab day, instead of Peter coming through the door, it was Happy. “What happened?” Tony asked. “The kid jump out of the car to save a kitten or something?”

“He said he didn’t want to come.”

Tony raised his eyebrows. “Peter Benjamin Parker told you he didn’t want to come to the lab today?” Happy nodded. “And you let him get away with that bullshit?”

Happy held his hands up defensively. “Hey, I wasn’t about to kidnap the kid.”

“Alright, fine but… Since when does he ever miss days? I’ve known him for, what? More than a year? He hasn’t missed one.” He thought it through for a moment. “Did he have a bruise on his face?”

Happy sighed. “He asked me not to mention it, but yeah. It was pretty big.”

Tony walked straight passed him and out the door. “Come on. We’re going to his place.”

* * *

It didn’t take long for Tony to get to Peter’s apartment building, use a copy of the key he made without May’s permission to get in, and courteously knock on the door before walking in. Pete was on his bed holding an ice pack against his cheek. He jumped and threw the pack onto the ground. “What? What are you doing here? I’m…” He forced out a fake cough. “I’m sick. Sorry, I can’t go to the lab.”

“I can see your bruise, kid. I’m not an idiot.” Tony walked over, picked up the ice pack, and sat on the bed “And neither are you, so quit it with these dumb excuses.”

“You can’t lock me in here. This is my home.”

“I can take you to the lab.”

“That’s kidnapping.”

“That’s assault.” He pointed at the kid’s bruise. “You gotta tell me what’s going on, Pete. You’ve been acting weird for more than a month, and now this?”

“It’s nothing you can fix. I’m really sorry you came over here for nothing, but-”

“Nope.” He handed peter the ice pack back. “You need to at least tell me. I’ll be the judge of whether or not I can fix something. Also, you’re not allowed to use the word ‘sorry’ anymore. It’s banned for at least until the end of the year.”

“You can’t just ban me from saying a word.”

“Too late. I already did. Now talk.”

Peter sighed and put the ice back against his face. “There’s this group of kids at school. They all kinda suck. They’re always running around making everyone miserable. They’ve always gone after me, but it’s been getting worse recently. A lot of pushing, targeting me more than anyone else. I know I could’ve fought back, but…”

“They would’ve gone after someone else,” Tony guessed.

He nodded. “It was fine at first, honestly, but… I don’t know. It’s hard to hear the same, dumb insults over and over again every day, you know? Then they got more violent and… It hurts more when I’m not Spider-Man somehow. I don’t know. It’s dumb.”

“No, it’s not.” He put his hand on Peter’s knee. “You’re lots of things, but you’re not dumb. It’s also not your job to just sit there and take it when someone punches you in the face.”

“But-”

“Not buts. You deserve better than that.”

“Then what should I do?”

He thought for a moment. “Alright, know I should be responsible here cause you’re a baby.” Peter rolled his eyes. “Just to be thorough, I’m gonna run through a few options first.

“I’m not going to like any of these, am I?”

“First, tell me their names so I can put on my suit and scare them into not being assholes.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “No!”

“Let Friday dig up some blackmail on them.”

“Still no.”

“I make a donation to the school in exchange for them expelling those kids.”

“Nope. Even if I was cool with that, it doesn’t really solve the problem. That would just mean another school would have to deal with them.”

“Fine, I’ll give the adult answer. You should stand up for yourself and tell your teachers.”

Peter laughed. “The teachers aren’t gonna do anything.”

“Didn’t think so, but you should still do the first part. Just know you shouldn’t have to torture yourself just to make sure no one else get’s hurt. If you see it happen, go ahead and step in. Other than that, those idiots aren’t your responsibility. Look out for yourself every once in a while.” He got up. “Now, I’m gonna go back to the tower to watch Star Wars and eat ice cream. You wanna come?”

That was all it took to get Peter up, hug Tony, and run out of his room. Tony smiled.  _ This kid... _

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it.


End file.
